The When waved his arm, dispersing cool blue crystals that extinguished the flame in the ceremonial torch.
“Congratulations, Warman Kohl,” The When said with as much warmth as the smoldering torch. “You are our champion. Prepare yourself to depart for TREE.”
* * *
It is a sad and sobering day when you realize your parents aren’t perfect. Precocious child that she was, Allegra had come to that conclusion years before. Who better to have dominion and determination over the world than those who brought you into it? Yet her parents seemed to have control over nothing. Nothing except Allegra’s world, of course, which seemed to grow smaller and more managed by the day.
Strangely, when she was being truly truthful with herself, it was not her father, King Xander, whom she resented most for h
